An app to review your ‘neta’ launched in New Delhi

An app that allows voters to rate and review their political representatives and aims to foster political accountability and transparency among leaders was launched here today.

Aptly called Neta app, which was unveiled by former President Pranab Mukherjee, the technology platform will let users rate their MLAs and MPs and is being billed as an instrument to gauge voter sentiment across constituencies in the country.

“A good democracy cannot function without informed voters, good leaders, accountability and complete transparency,” Mukherjee said said at the launch of the app created by 27-year-old entrepreneur Pratham Mittal.

Speaking on the occasion, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal noted that while India is a large democracy, there are people who give their votes based on caste, religion and other perceptions.

“There are many who have not even met their representatives… in such an atmosphere I think this initiative will give voters information about candidates and their work. It would help both the party and people,” he said. Mittal, founder of Neta App, said that the platform uses combination of Artificial Intelligence, advanced algorithms, one time password and Aadhaar numbers to ensure that the voters who rate leaders are genuine.

The app in its beta version has already seen over 1.5 crore verified voters rating and reviewing their local leaders across 543 parliamentary constituencies and 4,120 assembly constituencies over the last eight months.

The app is available on Andriod and iOS and web in 16 languages to cater to a diverse user profile.

According to a statement, to ensure participation across demographics including rural areas, the platform uses a combination of mediums like the app itself, IVR calls, SMS and even offline activation leveraging ASHA and Aanganwadi workers to collate data on evolving political inclinations.